


Comforts of Home

by asraidevin



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cullen Fluff, Cute, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 18:39:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3906604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asraidevin/pseuds/asraidevin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Evie Trevelyn watches Cullen cross the courtyard in the early morning. Her curiosity gets the better of her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comforts of Home

Evie walked out on her balcony and breathed in the morning air. It was good to be home.

She stared down at the empty courtyard, while she considered that. Skyhold, home. Her advisers and companions, her family. Leader, her calling.

She shook off the last one as she raised her face into the rising sun.

A movement on the battlements caught her eye. She watched as a dark figure moved down the steps and into the courtyard. It stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked around.

It was a distance, but the distinctive blond hair and fur covered armor told her exactly who her fellow early riser was.

But where he was headed, was a mystery. His arm was bent as if he were carrying something.

He disappeared toward the stables and curiosity got the better of her. She hastened off the balcony and down the stairs. A few people were in the Great Hall, but no one was awake enough to pay her any attention when she ran by.

She jumped off the side of the steps to the lower courtyard. She kept to the shadows as she tried to follow where the elusive Commander had disappeared.

She heard his gruff voice before she saw him. Was he ... crooning?

She prayed that he was too engrossed in his morning libations or she could move silently as she tiptoed toward the sound of his voice.

His broad shoulders were impossible to miss, even in the darkness where he crouched.

She frowned and peered closer, her eyes adjusting to the changing light patterns. He had dropped to one knee beside a dish. A dish and ... a ball of white fluff.

His hand was on the fluff ball and he was talking to it.

A cat. Well, a kitten. He was down here giving a plate of milk to a kitten. And he hadn't been content to just drop off the platter, but he stayed to give the kitten some needed affection.

Evie hadn't had much time to get to know the leader of the inquisition forces. Her army, but she hadn't gotten used to taking responsibility for the forces. They were Cullen's army.

He was an exceedingly handsome man. But no sooner then they arrived in Skyhold, than she had to head off to the Hinterlands, then the Storm Coast, then ... it seemed never ending travel, with brief stops back home to pick up supplies. Craft new armor and weapons. Check in with the advisers.

There it was again. Home. The idea felt warm and safe in her belly as she looked at Cullen. She curled her fingers into her palm, as she felt the compulsion to reach for him.

"Is this what you do in your spare time?" she said, terminating the silence.

His head whirled around and he jumped to his feet. "In-in-inquisitor?"

"Call me Evelyn. No, Evie. Call me Evie. All my friends do, did." She planned to tease him, but under the scrutiny of his golden gaze, she could only squirm.

He rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know where she came from. But I was out for a walk one morning and she mewed at me. Cook was kind enough to give me some milk and meat for the poor thing. And since then, we've adopted each other. I suppose."

Evie met his eyes. He was a magnetic force, tugging her closer and closer. She found herself standing next to him, gazing up at him through her lashes, blushing to her scalp.

The fluff ball mewed and they both glanced down.

"What's her name?" Evie asked. "Assuming it is a her."

He looked at her for a long moment. She could feel the path his eyes took on her skin, as sure as if he'd caressed her. "What?"

"The kitten. What are you calling her? Him? It?"

"Her. The stable master assures me he's an expert. I've been calling her Fluffy, as a lack of anything else. I've never had an animal."

"No mabari? I thought all Ferelden's had a mabari. Like a rule from King Alistair."

"No mabari. No dragons, turtles or frogs from the lake either." The corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

He was smirking at her?

How did that self-satisfied grin he got make him look so much more attractive? She frowned.

His face fell. "Something wrong?"

She blinked up at him. "Uh, just recalling my gran's mabari."

"Missing your family?"

"Yeah. I've never really been away. Not for this long. What about you? You aren't missing your family?"

"No, quite the opposite. My sister likes to ... pry into my life. I'm a bit reticent about writing. When I went to Kirkwall, my eldest sister was the one who tracked me down."

"Tracked you down? You didn't tell them that they were leaving? That you survived?"

Evie clamped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to be that forceful. "Sorry, I had no right."

He was smiling at her again. And she dropped her hand away, dazzled by the light in his eyes.

"I imagine my sister had much the same reaction. I thankfully haven't seen her." He paused and picked up his gloves from the table.

Evie looked down and realized the kitten had run off. Probably sleeping with a full stomach somewhere thanks to her surprisingly sweet Commander.

"No, the events at the Ferelden Circle left me broken. I didn't want to talk to anyone. My sister would have asked questions. She would have seen through any story I concocted. So I just ... left."

Evie put her hand on his elbow. "We don't have to talk of it."

"I should get this platter back to Cook. And then start my morning duties. I don't mean to keep you here, chattering your ear off." He glanced down at her hand on his arm several times.

She pulled away. "Yes. I suppose."

"Unless you want to have a rematch of our chess game. We said we'd play again." His words came out in a breathy rush. Did he want to continue to spend time with her?

She tipped her head to look up at him. Why couldn't she have gotten her father's height instead of her gran's? She always felt a bit of disadvantage when she stood in front of him. He was so damned tall.

On the field, she met many larger opponents. But with her daggers in hand, she was unstoppably confident.

In front of people, where she had to use tact and diplomacy, she was useless. She'd rather fight a hundred dark spawn then make small talk. Especially where Cullen was concerned. She had left the war room flustered on more than one occasion by his questions and dark looks.

"After you," he said, gesturing forward.


End file.
